四、阅读理解（共15小题；每题3分，共45分。）

　　阅读下面短文，然后根据短文的内容从每小题的四个选择项中选出最佳的一项。

　　A

　　Women nowadays are stronger and smarter than they were 50 years ago， and they can expect to live longer. Japanese women， for example， can expect to live 82 years， which is the longest in the world. Just 50 years ago， Japanese women could expect to live only 54 years.

　　Many women are working today. In Japan， 75% of women are working now， compared to 37% 50 years ago. The reason why so many women are working is that they're getting more education these days. The rate of Japanese women going to junior college and universities is higher than the rate for men. In 1947， the average Japanese woman got married at the age of 23. Today， the average age is 26. At the same time， divorce has increased by 50%.

As for having babies， today the birth rate is only 1.5 babies for each woman. Fifty years ago， the birth rate was much higher， 4.5 babies.

　　In a recent survey， Japanese women were asked whether they would choose to be a man or a woman in the future life. 65% said they would prefer to be born again as a woman. In 1960， only 27% said they would want to be a woman again in the future. This suggests that nowadays more Japanese women are happier with their lives.

　　36. The rate of women who are working now has increased by ______ percent compared with 50 years ago.

　　A. 37

　　B. 38

　　C. 50

　　D. 75

　　37. More and more women are working in Japan BECause _______ .

　　A. they have to raise their family

　　B. they don't have anything else to do

　　C. they have more education than before

　　D. they want to be independent

　　38. It can be inferred from the survey that _______ .

　　A. more Japanese women would like to be a woman

　　B. more Japanese women want to receive more education

　　C. more Japanese women want to be independent

　　D. more Japanese women are satisfied with their present lives